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FLIGHTTRAINING
Conceptual Model of Threat, Appraisal and Information Processing
Ignore
OR
Benign Positive
or Irrelevant
Assign Attentional
Resources
Perception
Normal Information
Processing
brain. 18,19 This fact is clearly advantageous
in situations when immediate
action is required but may induce a
pathological acute stress reaction that is
unwarranted.
If they appraise their situation as
threatening, humans involuntarily
will apply some form of unconscious
emotional homeostatic (stress-
relieving) coping or conscious defense
mechanism. This may take the form
of trying to fix the problem. That is an
entirely appropriate method, which
is employed by most pilots in most
situations. If no immediate fix is at
hand, however, or the situation is appraised
as being overwhelming, then
the possibility exists that some form of
emotionally focused coping mechanism
will be employed.
Emotionally focused coping, however,
is largely pathological and may
include elements such as avoidance,
Environmental Event
Primary Appraisal
Problem Focused
Loss/Harm
Threat/ Challenge
Secondary Appraisal
Defense or Coping
Mechanism Employed
denial, self-deception or reality distortion.
17,20,21 These coping mechanisms can
have severe effects on the constructive
processing of information, problem solving
and decision making. In the aviation
context, this is very problematic in critical
situations. One useful conceptual model
(Figure 1) illustrates this flow of threat,
appraisal and information processing. 22
Startle
The startle reflex is a normal and
universal human response to some unexpected/surprising
stimulus. When a
person appraises the stimulus as threatening,
activation of the sympathetic
nervous system triggers widespread and
rapid changes in the body. This arousal,
which is also associated with the acute
stress reaction, is generally known as
the fight or flight response and has been
shown to have significant effects on
cognitive and psychomotor processes.
Emotion Focused
Attentional Channeling
Perception
Degraded Information
Processing
Reappraisal
Note: When pilots appraise a situation as overwhelmingly threatening, there is a possibility that an emotion-focused coping method — largely negative/
pathological in its effect — will interfere severely with their information processing, problem solving and decision making.
Source: Wayne Martin, Patrick Murray and Paul Bates
Figure 1
The startle reflex invokes a pattern
of aversive movement (that is, away
from the stimulus) and aligns attentional
resources to the source of the
stimulus. This process is remarkably
fast, with first signs of reaction occurring
in as little as 14 milliseconds
(ms) in some tests on humans. 26,27
Given that cognitive processing of
new stimuli takes more than 500
ms, 28 that “quick and dirty” reflexive
reaction is clearly an innate process
for avoiding harm.
The brain’s amygdala region, which
is strongly associated with emotional
memory of fear, appears to be where
initial appraisal of threat is made. Projections
from the amygdala then initiate
the startle reflex and, if the threat
persists, the full startle or surprise reaction.
7,8 Essentially, this is still the fight
or flight response, the same process
invoked during acute stress reactions.
30 | FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION | AEROSAFETYWORLD | MAY 2013